Chosen
by pixiecorn
Summary: A vampire coven once united, seeks to destroy the 'Chosen' bloodline. When it is thought that the bloodline had finally been wiped out a feud erupts between two master vampires leaving their coven divided. Elizabeth has spent her whole life training for one moment; to exact revenge and vengeance against the creature who took everything from her.
1. Prologue

_**"A spirit like mine**_

 _ **Was forged from fire**_

 _ **A spirit like mine**_

 _ **Will burn on forever**_

 _ **And will never tire**_

 _ **A spirit like mine**_

 _ **Was not meant**_

 _ **For wallowing in the mire**_

 _ **A spirit like mine**_

 _ **Was born to aim higher" By: Unkown**_

 **Joyce:**

 _I felt the scream even before it escaped me, my throat hoarse from the hours spent yelling earlier. The hands that held mine tensed, my husband, Hank. He hadn't left my side the entire time and I sent him a reassuring smile as he looked down at me in concern, his brows knitting together in worry. He knew how much pain I was in but there was nothing that could be done about it. There was no amount of numbing herbs or potions we could make that would stop the ache that was tearing through my womb. Sweat was dropping from my forehead onto my chest, my body hot, muscles strained. I only heard the reassuring voices from my husband as he told me to push one more time as the midwife working at my center awaited for the birth of my son. I tried to continue breathing through my contraction but couldn't help but hold my breath, panting as I squeezed my husbands hands in a death_ - _like grip which I knew would leave a bad bruise if not crush a few bones. I couldn't help it. Strength was in my blood._

 _I let out another yell and then there was a rush from my center and I fell back onto the bed panting. He was out. I'd just given birth to my son. I gave a relieved laugh and then stopped. Everything was silent. Too silent. I tried to see over the swell of my stomach as the midwife worked on my son but I couldn't see anything._

 _My heart stopped. No, he was fine. Everything was going to be fine. It had to be. I felt my heart lurch and stomach drop, tears filling my eyes._

 _There was a hiccup and then a high-pitched wail pierced the silence and my heart raced a million miles an hour. The tears that had been forming dropped onto my sweaty cheeks and I closed my eyes falling back onto the pillows behind me once again. I was exhausted. Nearly twenty-two hours of labor. I was definitely not doing that again and Hank would be lucky if he was ever allowed in between my legs again._

 _"You're amazing. I love you so much, Joyce." His voice was shaky in my ear but held so much love in his words that I knew I could never deny him anything. Lips brushed my temple as he detached his stiff hand from my grasp and moved to take our son from the smiling midwife._

 _"How is he?"_

 _"It's a girl. You have a healthy little girl." The midwife placed a wrap around our baby and placed her in my Hank's arms._

 _A daughter? No._

 _"W-what? Hank, she-"_

 _It was supposed to be a boy._

 _No!_

 _My heart sank, my tears falling freely. I knew what it was like being a woman with a certain special ancestry. My blood was special, only special to the females who carried it. To some it had brought light and strength in dark times but I only saw it as a curse. I had been running my whole life and watched as it destroyed my family. My whole bloodline was gone._

 _My daughter was going to grow up into a world she would always be afraid of. Never being able to truly be herself. She would always be running._

 _"Everything will be fine."_

 _"She'll be hunted, Hank. I never wanted this for our child. M-my family- I'm so sorry."_

 _He came to sit next to me and cooed down at the small pink bundle in his arms. Our daughter wrapped her tiny fists around the finger he offered her and he sent me the most wonderful smile that held my gaze, unmoving._

 _"Never be sorry." His whispered words were in awe of the life we had created. He placed our daughter on my chest and for the first time I found myself speechless._

 _My fingers ghosted across her soft round cheeks, her lips were so small as she pouted in protest from having been ripped from the warmth of her cocoon for the last 9 months. She had barely any hair, her eyebrows faint but noticeable as she frowned. As if she knew that I was staring her tiny eyes opened to reveal a bright set of green eyes. Hank's eyes._

 _There was no denying who her father was. My heart skipped a beat as I took in a deep and shaky breath._

 _"She is so beautiful."_

 _Those tiny green eyes fluttered closed when Hank ran a hand over the smooth expanse of her head._

 _"We made her."_

 _"We did." I couldn't help but grin at the memory that statement invoked. Leaning up I captured my gorgeous husband's lips with mine before both of our gazes fixed on our daughter again._

 _I had taken so many risks in deciding to have a child. I'd even gone as far as finding a witch to produce that disgusting cocktail I had had to drink for two months to ensure the pregnancy would result in a boy. I'd tried herbs and pastes in my foods, Hank had even tried a spell. He dabbled in the arts you see. He wasn't exactly the most amazing witch- er warlock but he did try. I unconsciously tucked the hair around my ear, the side of my face still stung from the backlash of that particular spell gone wrong. I had a burn mark on my cheek barely the size of a plum but that had stopped him practicing around me ever again._

 _Staring down at the innocent babe that lay nestled into my chest I sent a silent vow above then and there that I would I do all that was capable in my powers to keep our child safe._

 _My daughter would not suffer the same fate that I and my mother and her mother's family before me suffered._

 _"She needs a name." Hank spoke, brows furrowing as he tried to think of one._

 _I hmm'd for a few moments, all the names that we had thought of had been boys names and there was no way in hell my daughter was going to be called Walter._

 _There was silence for a few moments and it took me a second to realize the midwife had left. It wasn't safe to linger anywhere at night. I looked back to my sleeping daughter and traced her round chubby cheek._

 _"Elizabeth."_

 _"Elizabeth." Hank whispered in echo, smiling his agreement. "A very special name for a very special little girl."_

 _She was special._

 _Special was in her blood._

 _..._

Buffy

18 years later

At first she heard nothing but the thundering sound of her own heartbeat as it pounded rapidly in her chest, the sounds of growling and yelling breaking through the fog as she struggled to stay upright. She lost her footing on the stone steps and tumbled, hitting the ground with a thud.

 _This is not my day_

Granted this was not her last few years. The Fates had screwed her big time on this one and there was no way she was letting them control her life. No sir. She was running.

...Again.

"FIND HER!"

Eyes widened as the thundering voice of her captor ripped through the castle walls. He was pissed. She wiped the tangled mass of hair from her face with shaking hands and noticing for the first time the blood that covered them.

 _When had that happened? Was that mine?_

Footsteps sounded down the hall from where she had just run and with a rush of movement and no further thoughts to her bloodied hands, lifted her skirts, pulled herself up and ran.

There was no way she was getting caught again.

 _No sir, not this time._

Taking down the two men outside the servants' quarters door was easy, thanks to the new found power running through her veins of course. She'd known this day was coming. Had known what to expect but never in her wildest dreams had she thought it would be like this. If she concentrated hard enough she could even feel the blood rushing to isolated muscles before she punched. Her strength was incredible and was ultimately what had helped her escape.

She was stronger, faster- squinting through the fog that covered the field and towards the stables she grinned- her sight was better too. Her father's words whispered to her in the darkness. "Never rush into a situation hot-headed."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the stables unguarded.

"She can't have gotten very far. Sun's going to be up soon. This way..."

The guards were getting closer and she couldn't risk lingering to scout any longer. Pushing off from the wall Buffy burst into the open field and cut through the fog like a breeze itself.

This 'chosen' thing was kinda neat.

She had been smart this time, thought ahead. There was no way she was getting caught were severe consequences for running away.

 _Which of course I'd learned the hard way._

The first time she had barely made it to the edge of the property before being brought back. Her punishment, after threatening her 'beast' of a captor, had been a knife cut to the face, not life-threateningly deep but deep enough to leave a scar from her cheek to lip.

 **"Now you're a beast just like me."**

His words had kept her frozen in shock for a week after that, her face taking months to heal.

The second time had been worse.

She knew what he was, what half of his house guard consisted of but it never ceased to make her stop trying. Call her stubbourn or hot-headed but she would not be bound by the prophecy the Fates had laid out before her.

 _I control my life, not them or any beast_.

She had escaped from her room in the middle of the day, the bindings on her wrists just loose enough to slip her hands out of her shackles. It was a better attempt, making it two towns over before her captor's head daylight 'human' guard had found her.

Riley.

 _Sometimes I think he's worse than the beast himself_.

Riley was the beast's right-hand man who liked delivering pain to others. There where things she would never forget and one of them was how much Riley enjoyed inflicting pain. It still made her shudder with unease. Riley knew that she was off-limits to even Angelus. Agnelus was very particular who his minions and guards were allowed to touch. She was thankful that even she was off limits to Angelus, Drusilla making it clear she not to be touched sexually until after her 'becoming' when the prophecy said she was to supposedly breed with the beast and bear him a child.

 _Not like it would actually work_ _._ _Vampires couldn't father children. Duh._

Riley had given her 10 lashes across the back for running.

The third time she ran, after knocking out the guard who had come to remove her shackles from the wall and tie her to the bed she was kept on at night, and was once again brought back, she had wished for death. Lashes again, except the wounds on her back still hadn't fully recovered from the first round.

She should have learnt by now.

 _But what can you say. I am stubborn._

She knew this would be the last time. Her last chance.

He would not leave her so carelessly shackled in her room alone and unguarded again. No. She would be in the cells beneath the castle, dark, wet and cold. Never knowing just how much time had past, never knowing if today was her last day. Just like it was at the beginning.

He was a beast, a creature with a lust for blood and torment and she knew the cut to his side and the kick she had delivered to his groin wouldn't keep him down for long. He would come after her and now that he knew her time had come, there was no telling what he was willing to do, or the lengths he was willing to go to to recapture her.

She slid inside the stables quietly, the snorting of the horses were getting louder as she moved about and she knew it wasn't safe to linger any longer. Picking a horse, snorting, its eyes wide, she quickly grabbed a bridle and saddle off the wall. Her hands shaky, she fumbled for a few seconds and finally managed to tackle the horse up.

Men were shouting outside, footsteps crunching in the pebbles and dirt as they made their way closer. Closing her eyes for the barest of seconds she sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening to help make it out of this hell in one piece.

"Come on girl."

Digging her heels into the horse's side she let out a shout. The horse reared up and charged off into the morning light where the beast dared not follow.


	2. Never Again

She spent the first few hours in a panic, petrified that her captor was hot on her trail. Hours running turned into days, the days turning into weeks and it wasn't soon before nearly two weeks had passed. Always on the move, covering the most distance under the cover of darkness that night offered. It wasn't safe to stay static.

He was always watching, his spies everywhere.

Liam Angelus was a name that brought fear into the eyes of the bravest of men. When she was a little girl she had thought he was only a story that parents told their children to scare them. But she wasn't a little girl anymore. No, thanks to Liam Angelus she had grown up pretty quickly.

 _I knew what he truly was._

A vampire.

The bedtime story that her parents had told her night after night for as long as she could remember of the two vampire covens fighting a war against each other and her kind, the chosen ones, for a millennium turned out to be real.

A tiny scrap of a child at the tender age of nine years old was when she had first laid eyes on the feared master vampire. She was in town with her parents buying food and supplies when her father had whispered quite fearfully for her to run and hide. She remember holding onto the posts of a wooden carts legs and watching as he rushed to her mother's side. Night had fallen less than half an hour earlier and if you looked hard enough from the hill where the market sat you could make out the barest sliver of light in the distance as the sun set. The market place was closing as it did early and only the cart owners remained, packing up their belongings before rushing home to their families and out of the darkness.

When darkness overcame the town an air of trepidation and fear always seemed to surround her and her family.

 _I had never understood why until that day._

"What a pretty little lass." His voice had sent shivers down her back from where she was hidden under the cart, his accent thick as his eyes leered at her mother. "Your name?"

Her father; she would never forget the look her father gave her mother, tried to push her forward and away from the beast but the tight grip Angelus had around her wrist was unrelenting and the men surrounding them stopped their moving forward.

"Your name..." His grip must have tightened because her mother let out a startled yelp and name all at once making her jump from under the cart.

"Joyce!"

Angelus's free hand ran through her mothers hair and down her cheek.

"Such a pretty wee thing."

"She makes such sweet little dollies. Ripe for the picking. Is has pulsatus. Electus is est. Can we keep her?"

She stayed hidden under the carts cover as a woman's black skirts swished passed by. The woman seemed to lose herself as she spoke the strange words before switching to a childlike manner and voice.

"She's been touched. Chosen she is."

 _Those words would be stuck with me for the rest of my life._

At the time of course she didn't understand what they meant and how much they would play a pivotal role in her upbringing. As far as she was concerned she was the daughter of two local farmers whose parents taught her archery at the young age of five for sport.

Upon witnessing the frightened look that crossed both of her parents faces she knew that what the dark-haired woman had said wasn not good.

Angelus had stared a few moments more at her mother before meeting her fathers glaring green eyes and letting out a grin. Raising an eyebrow he smirked at the dark-haired woman and let her mothers wrist go before turning, sliding his hand around the woman's waist and walking off into the night.

Her parents stood whispering in the markets empty lanes for minutes watching Angelus retreat before they rushed over to her and whisked her off straight home.

Angelus came for her mother just after dark not even two full days later. She had been in the stables practicing her archery like her parents had told her she must every night, at least that's what they thought she did. When they didn't stand watch on her nightly practices she was playing with the horses they kept. Rolling under the hay stacks and poking her head from underneath bundles of straw, giggling when the horses would sniff her out and nibble on her tangled blonde locks. Her mothers hair and her fathers eyes, that's what everyone said she looked like.

She was doing as such when the yelling had started.

"You cannot just take her!"

"Oh but I can and if you have any sense you'll stay quiet or your insignificant life will cease to continue!"

It was the accented man again. Angelus.

"Hank..."

Heart racing a mile a minute she crawled towards the stable doors, petrified at seeing all the men that surrounded her parents. Pushing the stable doors open her face cringing at the creek the door made and cursing herself for not putting oil on it the day before like her father had asked her to. She almost let out a startled yelp, heart skipping a beat when Barnaby, her father's horse nudged her in the back.

"Joyce run!"

Before her mother had a chance to move Angelus punched her father in the face, knocking him to the ground barely conscious. Elizabeth stifled the shout that was about to let loose using her hands to firmly clasped over her mouth. Three men surrounded her mother and grabbed her arms, pinning them to her body and doing their best to restrain her. She broke free or course, her mother was super strong like that. Grabbing a weapon from one of the mens belts Elizabeth watched on in shock and fear as her mother thrust something into one mans chest and he just disintegrated into a cloud of dust. A second man delivered a blow to her mothers stomach knocking her to the ground and Barnaby snorted at the noise.

"Joyce!"

Angelus spat at her fathers face where he lay on the ground and walked towards her mothers crumpled body as she too lay on the ground.

"You better learn quickly who your new master is girl. You are mine now."

Her mother, ever the fire cracker, spat in his face, eyes narrowed. She was injured and Elizabeth knew because she struggled to stand. Still, she growled out her words.

"I'll never be yours. I'll die first."

"We shall see. Take her away."

"Joyce, no!..." A groan came from her crumpled father and Elizabeth couldn't stop the tears that formed in her eyes with fear of what was to come. The hands covering her mouth shook as she struggled to contain a scream.

"No!"

The last vision Elizabeth would ever have of her mother was blurred with tears as Angelus bound her hands together and placed a sack over her head before swinging her onto his horse, nodding to one of his men to stay behind as the rest of them rode off into the night.

She didn't remember much of what had happened next because she was blind with rage. The man left behind to kill her father had started kicking him with all of his body weight behind each blow, Hank struggling to rise.

She didn't remember reaching for her bow or her quiver; the satchel she kept her arrows in as she ran from the barn, bow and arrow in hand, screaming.

"What th- You're next little girl. Can't leave anyone behind."

One arrow released in a matter of seconds and she grinned when it hit it's mark and buried itself in his gut. A wound which any normal man would have fallen down at, except this wasn't any normal man. He span and her heart stopped. The face that met her had not been the one she had just glimpsed moments before. He growled, eyes yellow and feral as he rushed towards her.

"The h-heart." Her father fell to the ground and she shakily grabbed for another arrow, aimed and fired. He crumbled into dust in front of her wide and terrified green eyes and only afterwards did she let herself crumble.

"E-Elizabeth."

"Father... mother she. What was that man? Mother... sh-"

"Vampires..."

...

Things were never the same after that.

 _I was never the same._

Running, they were always running. Her father and her had adopted different names, it wasn't safe to be Hank and Elizabeth anymore. No, now it was Henry and Buffy.

Not exactly the names she would have chosen but they had been funny to her mother at one point in time. It helped them remember.

The nights were getting colder now and it was getting harder and harder to survive off-road. There had been a few towns that had offered her refuge in the way of abandoned buildings in the lower class parts of towns where no one paid any mind to you or your business. It suited Buffy just fine. Anything to escape the bitter winter air that made sleeping out-doors unbearable.

With the cold nights brought along more sleepless nights. It was futile. Every step she took away from her captors had her chest tightening and her scars burning. She couldn't afford to be afraid of the dark but every night when her eyes closed her heart raced. She was plagued by nightmares, memories, haunted by images of what had happened and what could still happen. Fear was Buffy's worst nightmare and had become a constant cloud surrounding her every move. Letting out an involuntary shudder she placed a hand on the most recent scar she had been left with.

It burned red-hot.

The bite mark on her hip brought tears to her eyes. Buffy knew that her back was ripped to shreds, she could feel the bumps and rises of the old scars of her healed skin but the thing that made her cry at night was the fact that her most recent scars were in her direct sight. Forever marked.

Without fail every night the burning would get worse, sweat would break out on her forehead and she would feel the tug and tightening in her chest as she felt something trying to pull her back into the void. Every night she struggled, knowing that when daylight came the pain would become a dull ache but never seeming to stop completely.

The further she ran the stronger the pain got.

Still she never stopped.

It wasn't safe.

Angelus was no doubt hot on her heels, Riley leading the hunt during the day.

Head down, cloak up always.

Angelus had had her for how long exactly Buffy wasn't quite sure. She was kept indoors mostly, locked away in a cell beneath the castle in a pitch black wet and cold room before being moved upstairs to a windowless room not far from his own.

He watched her always, sending shivers down her spine when she pretended to be asleep. He taunted her with wicked words, telling her of what was in store for her when the time was right. Buffy knew she was to be his new play thing.

Like her mother before her.

 _When I became what my birthright said I would become._

And become she had.

A chosen one.

Which meant that nearly two years had passed since Angelus had taken her.

She shuddered at the thought.

 **"You and I are going to create something great together."**

All for a prophecy.

Staring at the sky above she sent a silent curse their way.

Angelus always touched her, pinching, stroking and running his hand suggestively over her body but never invading. His vampire mate Drusilla, the dark-haired woman who had been at the market place that day was insane. Literally. Buffy, petrified of her as she was, was almost thankful for it some days. She was always screaming and rambling on in her childlike voice about Buffy's purity and that she must not be broken in until after the becoming. Buffy was thankful for her insane words but that didn't stop her heart from racing or the screams she would let loose until her throat was too sore to make a sound anymore.

That's when the torture came.

The biting, the cutting. She squeezed her eyes shut at the memory.

Seeing Angelus's yellow eyed feral beast break forward in a flash never ceased to make Buffy's heart race in a panicked frenzy.

After being betrayed by a friend of her fathers who had given them refuge at a time when they had needed it most she was captured. Angelus had spent weeks tormenting her, painting images of what he had done to her mother before killing her while she was left to wallow in the dark cold wet of the prison cell.

Buffy had seen him feed on helpless women, watched on as he and his insane mate Drusilla fucked in the blood of their meal as it lay strewn across the floor while she stood, swaying in her starved and weak state, shackled to the wall.

 _Never again._


	3. Captured

It had taken Buffy near on nine days to make it to the last place she had ever seen her father. Dusk had only just set in when she arrived and what she found pushed her to tears. The house they had called home for months was in ruin, ash and rubble littered the ground. Sifting through the mess Buffy knew by the stages of decaying wood and debris that the house had lain this way for a long time. Her fathers whereabouts or existence was unknown.

Vampires.

The growl that escaped Buffy's lips as she walked was deep. She had vowed a long time ago to kill Angelus for what he had done to her mother and if harm were to ever come to her father, his death would be a slow and painful one.

She needed a plan and she needed help.

One way or another she would have justice and revenge.

That's why she was heading east. To find him.

After her mother had been taken her father, and she traveled around the countryside searching for answers. Searching for help. It was futile. No one dared fight the beasts that plagued the night, but Buffy had come to realized just how connected her father was. He had powerful friends and the one who had the most power was a man by the name of Rupert Giles. Buffy hadn't exactly met the man himself or seen his power in action, but her father had told her many years ago about the part Rupert had played in the vampires war when it had spilled into his lands and destroyed his home and family, wife and child included.

She needed help and Rupert Giles was the man she would need if she where to ever stand a chance at trying to kill Angelus and Drusilla.

A brush of cold air whipped across Buffy's face, breaking her from her musings with another shiver, goosebumps rising up her arms and back. The cloak she wore was folded tighter around herself. It was getting unbearably colder now. The nights lasting longer, the chill and dampness in the air seemed to always cling to her.

 _God I hate winter._

Buffy's parents had taught her many skills starting from when she was only five years old. Things that a young child shouldn't know. She knew how to survive on her own, not something a lady should know, but with only a father to raise her at the impressionable age of nine she knew many things women should not. She knew how to track and hunt down her prey, knew how to fight with a blade and was quite proficient in hand to hand combat and also had some skill in archery. Buffy had never questioned learning the skills at a young age as it always seemed like a new fun game to play, but it wasn't until Drusilla had spoken those words in the marketplace that her mother had sat her down and explained what they actually meant..

Things seemed to become a lot more serious after that.

 _"Pulsatus and Electus mean touched and chosen, it's what I am, what we are. There's something special in our blood sweetheart, it makes us different. There are things in this world that mean us great harm and it's my-our job to get rid of them. To keep precious little girls like you safe."_

 _"Am I Pul-tatoes too?"_

 _"Pulsatus."_

Buffy would never forget the sound of her fathers chuckle at her mispronunciation. He had the warmest laugh. The kind of laugh that tickled at the edges of your eyes and just made you melt and feel safe. That was home to her.

 _"Y-you have my blood running in your veins so it's most likely that you are. We won't know for a few years yet, it will happen when you're eighteen. You will feel such power rush through you, breathe and smell things you've never smelt before. You will be able to hear and run better, aim and fight stronger."_

 _"And if I'm not pul-satus."_

 _"That won't make you any less special."_

 _"There are bad things in this world Elizabeth and it is our job as your parents to make sure that you are capable of fighting them."_

A smack to the shoulder broke Buffy from her thoughts, glancing up into the figure of the owner her stomach dropped.

Riley.

 _Shit!_

He didn't seem to notice her at first, just kept walking, eyes fixed on his men in the distance. Buffy wasn't taking any chances. Her pace quickened, pushing and rushing through the crowd of the towns square and ducking down a side alleyway. If she could just make it back into the woods and undercover.

 _Shit... Shit, shit shit!_

A shadow blocked her exit and when she made an abrupt about-face and turned to rush back the way she had just come she found herself surrounded and once again taken captive.

 _Great. Just great!_

So here she was, two days later tied to a tree freezing her ass off as Riley and his stupid soldiers sat around a nice warm fire not too far from away from her. Close enough to see her, but not enough to warm her.

 _Assholes._

They were taking her back to Angelus.

A growl and grumble left Buffy as she swung her gaze back around.

 _They could try._

Like hell she was ever going back there!

They had stripped her of her weapons and taken the bow and arrows sheathed in her quiver, the one her mother had handmade when she was nine as well as the hidden blades she kept tucked into her coat. When Riley's hands had lingered too long at Buffy's crutch during the search she had spat in his face.

 _Not the smartest of moves I'll admit. I got a punch in the gut for that one. Don't worry though, I managed to get in a few punches of my own before Riley delivered a blow to the back of my head knocking me out._

The rustling in the trees is what had woken Buffy from another restless dream, her bite mark burning. Staring out into the woods she saw nothing but blackness. Something was out there, the hairs on her arms standing on edge, neck tingling with an unknown presence lingering beyond her sight.

The men had been thorough in their search for weapons and had taken all but one. Casting a hesitant glance back around the tree to which she was bound Buffy saw her captors sleeping near the warm fire they had lit, only one guard stood watch.

 _Typical._

She thought with a roll of her eyes. Teeth chattering, fingers numb and cold as ice to the touch it was quite a struggle for Buffy to reach into her left boot where she had hidden a small blade. With a triumphant grin moments later she pulled it free.

There was another rustle in the darkness making her heart race. Breath quickening she began to work at her restraints, muffling a cry of pain when she felt a prick in her palm and a sting rush through its center before the blade become warm and slick with blood. Another scar to add to her body. Buffy was a little more hesitant after that.

The rustling continued and her heart raced faster.

Something was coming and she planned on being long gone before it arrived.

Finally free of her restraints Buffy cast a furtive gaze around the tree. The guard on watch was staring across the woods, eyes narrowed, hand on the sword at his side. Buffy scanned the camp grounds and after a few moments of searching located her weapons discarded, she frowned, 'willy nilly' as her father liked to say at the haphazardly discarded manner in which they had been thrown on the ground near the fire. They would prove difficult to reach with three more guards sleeping not five feet away.

 _But not impossible._

With lips pressed tightly together she plotted. The guard on watch would be the first to take down. Steal his sword and kill the three other guards near the fire and grab the rest of her weapons to then kill Riley. Yes Riley was the first on Buffy's hit list.

She made it about four feet before a sharp prick in her back halted any further movements. The blade cut through the leather of her top and the trickle of warm blood dripping down her spine had her frozen, heart clenched.

Buffy took a sharp intake of breath and her stomach dropped.

"And where do you think you're going?

Tense and straight she raised her arms into the air in defeat, eyes scanning the now silent woods.

"Stretching my legs." Buffy peered over her shoulder at him. "Being tied to that tree for the last four hours freezing my ass off has done hell on my legs and not to mention my back."

She spoke softly, trying to edge forwards. Just a few more steps and she would be within reach of her weapons. The other guards were all awake now, alert and watching on in interest.

"Ah ah ah." Riley slashed down with his sword and the scream that escaped Buffy's lips had sleeping birds scattering from their nests with a flutter of wings and squawks. She didn't need to see her back to know that there was now a huge slice in it.

 _Couldn't just stay quite could you. Had to open your big mouth._

"We can't have that now, can we. He's been looking for you for a very long time." Riley laughed watching as she fell to the ground with a gasp, eyes tearing as she struggled to crawl forward on the ground. The other guards standing watch and smiling. "You're his favorite you know." He nodded to his men who came to flank Buffy on either side, pinning her face down on the dirt, back open and bleeding for Riley's viewing.

 _No! Please no!_

Riley motioned for his men to pick her up into a standing position, arms outstretched as he pulled at the whip attached to his belt. The fear in her eyes made him grin, but she couldn't help it, her back was on fire and she could already feel herself becoming weak from blood loss. Riley smirked watching her struggle before he lashed out, whip cracking down on Buffy's back.

She told herself not to scream, but again another yell broke from her lips with a hoarse and pain filled cry. Body betraying mind. Tears spilled from Buffy's eyes profusely hearing Riley moan as he delivered another blow to her back. Riley loved pain just a little too much.

No amount of telling herself that she was stronger, better, to stop crying and that she had power and strength on her side now could pull her from feeling like that scared and alone child sitting in the dark dungeon she was in at the beginning.

"Your mother isn't dead you know." Buffy could hear the smirk in his voice as her breath stopped. "Angelus turned her, she's just like him now. A creature of the night."

Buffy went weak in his men's arms, unbelieving and not being able to stop the sob that escaped her lips. He laughed and all of a sudden her anger was back, struggling to pull her arms free from his men's grip. He was lying. He had to be.

"Y-you're lying!"

"You've been running for far too long. It's made you weak." He spat on the ground and Buffy tensed waiting for his next blow when a voice she had never heard before broke through her panicked and pain filled silence.

"Now tha's no way to treat a lady Finn."

"You! Kill him!"

Riley had sounded surprised and a little scared.

 _No that couldn't be right. Could it?_

The arms that were holding Buffy up let go and she fell to the ground with a thud, hearing a few animalistic growls and seeing a flash of fur and a streak of white before she blacked out.


	4. Pulsatus Electus

A scream tore through Buffy's lips as something cold and wet was poured onto her back seeming to light it on fire. Her head aching as she struggled to rise.

"Keep her still!"

All of a sudden there were numerous sets of hands upon her, roughly grabbing arms and legs, pinning her to the soft mattress to which she seemed to be lying on as a voice she didn't recognize yelled out commands. Again, the cold wet liquid was poured onto her back. Screaming, Buffy managed to pull an arm free knocking the voices owner back. Twisting her body against her other captors she felt herself being slammed back down against the mattress by a firm and warm grip.

"It's easier if you don't move."

Buffy let out a growl as the other hands resumed to hold her in place. The voices that murmured behind her she didn't recognize. Definitely not Riley's men. Who the hell were these people? Eyes struggling to stay open through the pain of her scorching back she surveyed the room. It was plain, containing only the bed she lay on and a small hutch and chest of drawers in the corner where bottles and vials covered the top. She let out a hiss as the hands that worked at her back began to paste on another thicker liquid, almost seeming to instantly numb the pain. Just like magic.

"Wha-" Taking a few needed deep breaths as the hands firmly holding her in place lessened their firm grips, she spoke louder. "What happened? Who are you people?"

"Lift her up for just a moment please."

"What are you- Ow!" Hands grabbed Buffy under the arms and lifted her up, pulling the taught damaged skin of her back. The woman who had obviously been working on her back wrapped a bandage around her naked torso.

 _Oh my god I'm half naked!_

Giving her hips and legs a slight wriggle Buffy let out an internal sigh of relief at feeling the material of her pants still around her hips.

"You shouldn't feel much for the next couples of hours. Numby goodness here you come." There was a nervous chuckle from behind her. "I-it only lasts for a while so it'll need to be applied again. You can sit up if you like."

Too many thoughts were rushing through Buffy's head as the woman behind her spoke. She tried to sit up and instantly brought a hand to her head at the dizzy spell that seemed to rush out of nowhere. The room was spinning as Buffy squinted and struggled to put the pieces of her last moments together.

 _Being captured._

 _Freezing my ass off in the woods._

 _Trying to escape._

 _Riley._

 _My mother._

 _Darkness._

 _ **"She's just like him now. A creature of the night."**_

"Where's Riley?"

Eyebrows furrowed in concentration she tried to sit up again, the twisting motion pulling on her damaged back. With a few panting and slow movements Buffy finally managed to turn in the bed and sit up.

 _There was no truth to Riley's words. He was lying. If not, why wait all this time to tell me. Why now?_

"T-The one that did this to you?"

Meeting the stammering voices owner Buffy was surprised by what she saw. A woman no older than thirty stood to her side. She was covered in an apron that was smeared with blood which was obviously not her own. Buffy grimaced slightly at the sight. Her hair was brown and tied in a loose bun, hair falling loose and wild and covered in sweat from the exertion of trying to hold Buffy still. She wasn't overly plump, but did have a very womanly figure, one which she almost envied her for, being so thin herself.

Still her voice was soft and eyes warm. She didn't look threatening.

"Yes..."

Buffy hated her back. It was a constant reminder of what had been taken from her and what that place had brought her to.

"He's the one that gave you the others?"

The voice from earlier spoke, belonging to a tall thing redhead who, when she finally gathered her bloodied materials and met Buffy's eyes, knew was the woman who had been working on her back. She too also wore an apron which was tied around a very pregnant waist and also covered in her blood.

"S-some yes."

Buffy played with the folds of the bandage wrapped around her torso, back warm and aching, the pain now dull. Lost in her thoughts she almost missed who spoke.

"Spike will want to know she's awake."

 _Who the hell is Spike?_

Buffy's heart began to race, the erratic pace making her stomach tie in knots. These people had rescued her, patched her up and mended her wounds. They were good people. Who would they subject her to now? She couldn't stop her eyes from widening and body jumping in fright when the red-headed woman yelled at the short red-haired man who had spoken.

"She's barely sitting!"

The man was small, but something about him sent a shiver down Buffy's arms raising the hairs, neck tingling in a way she hadn't felt before. He was different from the others. He emitted power and by the strength he had possessed to push her back down into the mattress and hold her down with all the new-found power running through her veins she knew that he wasn't entirely human. He wasn't a vampire, they were as cold as ice to the touch.

What was he?

He noticed her staring and met her gaze, almost daring her to break eye contact first but the redheads pregnant belly blocked her view as hands were raised to her hips, lips set firm daring him to challenge her.

"You know as well as I what his orders were."

The man spoke slowly and tersely making the redhead pause and sigh in defeat. Buffy watched on nervously as he left the room. Whoever Spike was he was obviously the man in charge and she wasn't sure if she should fear him or thank him.

"I'm Tara and that's Willow." The curvaceous woman helped Buffy sit up properly and placed a few large pillows behind her, apologizing at seeing the discomfort on her face from her back leaning against anything.

Buffy hissed out her name and managed to meet Tara's smile with a terse one of her own.

"I'm sorry about the excruciating pain, but it was necessary to clean your uh, sword wound." Willow, the redhead made a swishing down movement with her hands in imitation of a blade slicing down and Buffy raised an eyebrow in response. Willow walked to the hutch where the vials and bottles were and picked up a bowl, walking back over to place it in Buffy's hands. "It's soup with a little extra kick to help you sleep."

Staring at the sloshing liquid in front of her Buffy was hesitant to accept the woman's offered meal.

"It'll help with the p-pain." Tara stuttered, offering a sweet smile.

"The pain-" Buffy lift the soup towards her lips, sniffing at it a few times before meeting both women's gazes. "Nothing I haven't felt before b-but thank you." Smelling nothing other than the sweet aroma of chicken broth she took a big gulp of the soup.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the two women shuffled about the room, cleaning up the materials they had used to fix her.

"Where am I?" Of course Buffy was met with silence, neither women dared to speak.

 _Let's try that again._

"What happened?"

There was a thumping of boots meeting wooden floors down the hallway, someone obviously coming up a set of stairs and then the door to the room was thrust open and a man entered.

"Where you are is none of your concern. What happened is wha' I'd bloody well like to know."

He stopped at the foot of her bed. Cold blue eyes met her green. He had a thick accent which sent a thrill running through her body, warming her in all the right ways. He wore tight dark leather pants and a firm fitting black shirt which was covered by another leather coat. He had striking features, his hair was as white as snow, his cheekbones sharp and narrow as he glared at Buffy with his eyes turning an even lighter shade of blue as he stared.

 _Just like the sky's in summer._

The back of her neck tingled and the healing bite wound on her hip started to burn red-hot. Buffy could feel the rush of power that came from him which sent a shudder through her. He was a vampire and a master one at that. He was old, not as old as Angelus and Drusilla, but he held himself with an air of power and strength. Buffy's heart raced, pumping away rapidly in her chest. If he noticed he did not say, but the flicker of fear in her eyes brought a small smile to his face.

Spike took a deep and unnecessary breath and Buffy let herself sink into the mattress when his eyes dilated. She knew her scent lingered in the air, the bloodied soaked ruined clothes lie in a heap on the hutch. The blood soaked bandages dripping onto the floor where they sat on the hutch's edge.

 _Does he know?_

"Let's start from the beginning shall we. Wha's your name?" Buffy never let her eyes stray from his form as he paced casually back and forth at the end of the bed, one hand trailing lazily on the wooden frame. She was wary, tense and scanning the room for an opportunity and ready to run if it was needed.

"Buffy-"

"Don' lie to me! I don' like liars!" His eyes shot to hers, flashing yellow. Buffy took a deep inhale and let out shaky breath.

 _You can do this. He doesn't know. He doesn't need to know. Be evasive._

"E-Elizabeth Summers..."

 _So much for being evasive Summers, you give him your name straight out of the gate. Smooth._

"And why did Riley have you?" He spat his name. "Wha' does he wan' with you?"

Buffy's heart was racing as it glanced from his flaring eyes to his clenching fists. She knew the power that was beneath those fists, knew the destruction they had no doubt caused. Spike seemed to have no idea who she was and the power that she too possessed. His only unknown response to her was his dilated eyes and the constant smelling he seemed to be unconsciously doing.

His demon sure knew who she was and more importantly what she was. Every time his eyes flickered ember he would stare intently.

"I-I don't know..."

Soup spilled down Buffy's lap before she could blink and suddenly breathing became an issue. One second he was standing at the end of the bed glaring at her and the next he was straddling her lap, pinning her around the throat and pushing her back into the pillows and head board of the bed.

"Don' lie to me!" He roared his demon coming to the surface, eyes wide and yellow.

Buffy struggled to pull his hand free from her throat, back flaming and burning once again as she choked and sputtered. The lack of a proper meal and sleep over the weeks making her strength oblivious to his powerful grip.

"She can't answer if you're choking her for Christ sake!" The redhead yelled, whispering something in a language Buffy recognized as Latin. With a feral growl Spike was once again at the end of the bed pacing, his eyes flashing blue to yellow as he seemed to struggle reining his demon in.

Tara hesitantly walked over and picked the empty soup bowl up from the floor and handed Buffy a cup of water. She helped her sit back up this time leaning forward and away from the pillows, shooting Buffy a sympathetic look as she struggled to get air back into her lungs.

"What. Does. Riley. Want. With. You?" Spike pronounced each word slowly and forced, his gaze fixed on Buffy and she knew to dare not lie again. He would know the truth one way or another.

"To take me back."

"To who?"

"To h-him."

"Less cryptic shit and more answers. Now!"

"Angelus! To take me back to Angelus..."

"You're no' the first pretty little lady Angelus has taken, luv." He spat his name, hatred in his words as he stopped, tilting his head, curious. "Wha' makes you so special..."

"I-I don't..."

"I've been hunting Finn for the las' three days since I found out he was close to my lands, but whenever I got close-" Spike slapped his hands together making Buffy jump. "He ups and leaves in another direction. Erratic for him which I can only assume was because he was hunting you down. So again I ask." He sat down next to her on the bed, disregarding of the wet soup covered sheets and the now reddening marks around her throat. Buffy flinched as he leaned close. "Wha' makes you so special?"

Buffy eyes began to water as her vision blurred, the voices in the room becoming clouded and foggy. She was seeing double, her body becoming lax as she tried to shake it off and stay awake.

"H-help. I ne-"

Her limbs felt heavy. Buffy tried to move her muscles but couldn't feel a thing. Eyes going wide she grasped out a hand to his bicep tight, her hand stinging. "I'm...P-pulsatus." Buffy struggled to stay upright as she stumbled over her words, lips numb. She felt her forehead connect with his shoulder just as she whispered "Electus." and blacked out, neck bare and exposed.

It was his demons automatic response to come to the surface as he stared at the vein pulsing in her neck. He was aware of Willow and Tara staring at him wide eyes, daring not to interrupt his beast as it sought to discover what she was.

Spike breathed her scent in, dirt and the sweaty musk from traveling off road and in the woods lingered in her hair and skin along with a scent he was familiar with. Blood. This blood wasn't the blood that coated the ruined materials used to mend the wound on her back. No this was fresh. His demon almost grinned when he felt the limp hand fall from his bicep when he moved. Picking the bandaged hand up from the bed near his thigh he brought it to his face. Spike let his demon take control for a few moments and pull the darkening cloth from her hand. He felt his pants grow tight when the cloth dropped to the bed and the wound came in to view, blood dripping from her palm.

The woman- Elizabeth or Buffy, Spike wasn't sure what to call her, was still passed out against his chest. He pushed his demon back and felt himself take more control, his face still in demon form. Spike tentatively lent forward and licked the trialing blood that had dripped down to her wrist and back up to the wound on her palm.

Her blood was like none he had ever tasted before. She was intoxicating. He could taste raw power in her veins, pure and untouched. He couldn't help but suckle at her palm, his tongue licking flat against the wound, the healing collegian in his saliva already helping to stitch the wound closed. Spike growled low in warning when he felt someone move behind him.

"T-The soup I gave her must have kicked in a bit sooner than I thought!" Willow started loudly, lying and knowing full well the dose of sleeping powder that she had added to the soups mixture. She tentatively reached out a hand and touched it briefly with Spike's shoulder, flinching back when he snarled, eyes flashing yellow. Spike turned his gaze once again to Buffy- Elizabeth and lowered her to a laying position.

What was she?

"Wh-what does pulsatus electus mean?" Tara asked.

"It's Latin for touched o-or chosen." Willow replied, staring at the young woman on the bed with wide eyes.

"Well isn' that just neat..." Spike's human visage fell back into place as he brushed a lock of hair from her face, his hand hovering over her bruising neck.

"It's Impossible... That bloodline died out a long time ago." Willow whispered staring as the red marks around Buffy's neck seemed to lighten, healing themselves at a rate she had never seen before.

"Clearly not."

"I wan' everyone ready to go within the hour!"

"It's light out still." Willow stated, oblivious to Spikes sudden excitement over the person who had literally fallen into his lap.

"One hour and we're gone."

"She said help." Willow seemed puzzled. Why would a woman of the chosen bloodline ask a vampire for help? How was she even alive? The war that had raged across the country had started over the chosen ones and two powerful vampire covens.

Vampires and the chosen ones where sworn enemies. Why wasn't she dead? Why hadn't Angelus just killed her?

As if hearing her unspoken thoughts, Tara spoke.

"I-If she really is chosen why would Angelus keep her locked up. Why not kill her?" Tara stuttered gathering items from the room and stuffing them into the bag Willow had just passed her.

"Why indeed." Spike muttered staring at the bruised and battered woman who lay before him questions running through his mind a million miles an hour, the lingering sweet taste of her lips still caressing the taste buds on his tongue.


	5. You Know Nothing

The first thing Buffy felt was a cool breeze as it swept across her bare shoulders causing her to involuntarily shudder. She tried to pull a blanket closer but found there was nothing, no blanket to grab onto, her movements restricted.

The second thing she felt was pain. Her back was no longer numb from the cream Willow had lathered over her wounds but was now screaming with red-hot protest at having been laid on.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she struggled to move, her breath catching as searing pain surged across her back, eyes scrunching together to stop the blank white spots she saw. It took a few moments and a few failed attempts at moving, to finally realize that her hands had been tied together, making it almost impossible to sit up without causing a massive amount of pain.

 _Great._

One thing she did notice was that the cut on the palm of her hand, as it rubbed against the knuckles of her other hand, was no longer stinging. Thinking no more on it when the snorting of horses and the rumbling of a carriages wheels as they rolled across the dirt and rocks was heard. With a jolt as the cart seemed to hit a narrow hole in the ground she came to the dimming realization that she was no longer sitting in the comfortable bed that she had woken to previously.

She was being moved.

Again.

Events from the night before were still foggy in Buffy's mind as she struggled to open her eyes, knowing that the situation she was in was not a good one.

 _Now would be a good time to get out and run Summers!_

"I'm sorry, b-but it's safer this way."

"For who." Groaning, Buffy cracked one eye open only to find her vision skewed sideways. She was lying sideways down on a carriage seat across from Willow and Tara, who were looking down at her apologetically. "Why am I tied up?" Even as she asked the question she knew the answer.

 _Escaped from one prison only to be landed in another one, with another vampire as it's master._

This was not going according to plan.

Buffy knew she needed to escape and travel further east to find Rupert Giles, the man who was going to help her take down Angelus.

"So you don' run off, luv."

Buffy jumped, startled and let out a yell at Spike's smirking voice as his head came into view as it popped through the open window to the carriage. He was leaning down from where his horse walked alongside next to them.

"Do I look like I'm going running anytime soon?" Tears sprang to Buffy's eyes as she finally struggled to a sitting position, her back screaming in protest. As she spoke, her hands wriggled in their bindings, trying to find a weakness and loosen them. Any movement she made just seemed to rub the ropes tighter, digging into her already tender flesh from having been tied up by Riley and his men.

"I can' run the risk of you escaping. You're too important. Now that I know wha' you are and how much a certain someone will do almos' anything to get you back."

Buffy's head dropped and a few tears threatened to spill over at hearing his words. There was no way she was letting Spike deliver her to Angelus hogtied and on a silver platter.

She was not going back.

 _I'll die first._

Hands shaking she struggled to grab at the wrappings of the bandages around her chest as they stuck to her back, pulling on the sensitive skin. She would give almost anything for some of that magical paste Willow seemed to be in possession of. Anything to take away the pain.

Spike didn't know what possessed him to yell out, but seeing the stricken look that crossed Buffy's features had him shouting out an order to stop. He pulled on his horse's reins until it slowed and finally came to a stop alongside the carriage. He yanked open the door none to gently and motioned for the two women to exit, helping Willow down with a gentle hand before letting Tara slip passed. He reached in and wrapped his hand around Buffy's tied wrists, jerking her up and out. He held the door to the carriage open and grasped her arm tight when she stumbled on the two steps, still weak from blood loss and lack of food.

"Get that paste of yours would you." He grimaced as Willow pulled out the vial of paste to which he seemed obviously disgusted at, scrunching his face when the vial was opened and the smell assaulted his senses.

"Tied me up so I can't run free and yet worried about my discomfort. Thanks ever so!" Buffy growled, snatching her arm free, grimacing as the movement caused her back to flush red-hot.

"All that wriggling of yours has your back open again. I can smell the blood." He breathed in deep, leaning down to whisper in her ear hotly. "You taste even better."

"Fuck you." Buffy spat, heart racing at his implication.

She was unnerved, Spike spoke with such conviction. He made out that he had tasted her blood already and she couldn't help but nervously lift her hands towards her neck, a silent sigh going through her when she found no bite marks there.

Still, he smirked on.

 _Smug bastard!_

Buffy flinched and stepped back when Tara moved towards her to help unwrap the bandages.

The sun had already set and pitch black darkness surrounded the small group, barely being able to make out the shadows of the trees that lined the path. The carriage they traveled with had lit oil lamps. One was inside the carriage and the other was strung up on the outside, lighting the spot near where the driver sat. Standing just under the light made it easy to see the blood soaked bandages as Tara unwrapped them from Buffy's chest and dropped them to the ground.

Grimacing as the bandages were peeled away from her back, Buffy brought up her bound hands to cover her exposed naked chest, eyes glaring at her grinning vampire captor as his tongue came out to wet his lips.

 _'Delicious.'_ Spike thought, eyes raking over her half naked form.

"This will sting." Willow said sympathetically before splashing a small bottle of cold running liquid on Buffy's back. The scream that broke through her lips had her eyes squeezing shut and grabbing blindly at the closest thing that was available to her to release some of the pain. It just so happened to be Spikes arm.

"Christ!" Spike exclaimed, at feeling Buffy's tiny hands wrap around his arm in a vice like grip.

Buffy was panting, tears threatening to spill over as her vision flashed white. Her naked chest was forgotten as she gripped his arm, her nails digging into his flesh and nearly drawing blood. Spike stared at the torn woman in front of him felt pity for her for the first time since she had been brought into his group.

Her back was a mess. Old scar tissue covered the whole expanse of her tiny back, blood dripping in between the raised welts from the blows her captors had dealt her. Her tear strained face met his and dropped quickly, hands shaking and nails digging into his flesh again when Willow splashed her with the cold wet liquid once more.

Buffy cursed, the scar that ran from her cheek to lips quivered as she shook from the pain.

She was one battered and beaten woman.

Her chest faced him and Spike couldn't help but take in her small frame for the first time since capturing her. She had obviously been living off of the land with the amount of dirt and grime that was caked to her clothes and skin. He had smelt weeks' worth of travel, different woods and dirt stuck to her clothes, but as it was winter there wasn't much to hunt and her ribs were starting to show through her pale skin.

His gaze travelled further down to her hips and stopped just above her tattered and torn pants where his eyes zeroed in on what looked to be bite marks followed by four long pale lines. His eyes darkened at seeing the bite mark on her skin, his demon crying out in rage that she had been marked in such a way.

Marked by a vampire that wasn't him.

 _'What the bloody hell?'_ Spike couldn't stop the possessive growl that seemed to rumble through his chest. The bite marks looked so familiar and yet there was something about them, vicious in their making.

"Don't!"

Without realizing he had reached out with his free hand, his fingertips barely grazing the silky expanse of her skin when Buffy's hand snatched his wrist in a tight grip.

"D-Don't."

"He really did a number on you didn' he."

It was more of a whispered statement than a question. Buffy's eyes never left his, thankful that Willow had started to cover her back in that magical paste of hers, slowly numbing the pain that encased her back. Tara moved to wrap a fresh bandage around Buffy's chest, covering her naked breasts from Spikes view once again.

The brief contact of his fingers on her bite mark had sent it burning hot and Buffy couldn't help the discomforted whimper that escaped her. The bite mark always burned at night, every step she took seemed to worsen the pain, but this was different. The burning sensation she felt now was fiery-hot and angry, like nothing she had felt before.

One thing was for certain, she did not want his hands near her again.

 _I was weak. Too weak to fight back. Too weak to tear my tormentors off of me when they attacked. Riley, Angelus...Drusilla._

"It wasn't just him." Barely recognizing her own voice as she spoke, she took a deep breath. The defeat in her voice was comforted by the gentle squeeze Tara gave to her shoulder before wrapping the bandage around her chest and back around in another loop. "This one was from Angelus." Buffy traced a finger down the scar on her left cheek and stopped at her lips where the scar finished. "Some on my back are from Angelus, but mostly from Riley. Different times, different places." Shuddering, she lift up her arms as best she could with them bound as Tara wrapped the bandage around again, almost breathing a sigh of relief when she no longer felt the ache in her back. Numb once more, she dropped her hands, fingers hovering over her right hip. "These," she scratched at the bite mark and deep lines angrily as they burned before turning to glare up at Spike. "are from Drusilla."

"What." Spike almost but whispered, his demon whimpered as Spike forced it aside.

"T-That should keep you relatively comfortable until we get back and then we'll change the bandages and clean the wounds again. OK, let's go." Willow rushed out, pouring water over her hands, rinsing them of Buffy's blood before stepping up back into the carriage, one hand running soothing circles on her belly.

Buffy raised an eyebrow at Willows rushed words, something sure had her frazzled and for a moment she was sure she had seen something cross her face before she disappeared from view. Tara had already walked up ahead to where Oz was standing, gripping onto the reins of Spike's horse as soon as she had tied off the bandage. She came back a few moments later just as Willow sat down in the carriage.

"W-we need to move. Oz say's it's not safe to linger here any longer."

Buffy let out a defeated sigh, goosebumps rising across her skin as another icy winter's breeze brushed through the air. Turning to climb back into the carriage she was stopped by Spike who grabbed her arm in a deadly grip, eyes wide.

"Drusilla? She's with Angelus?"

"Yes." It came out as a whisper, making her shudder from the memories. "She's his **mate**." Buffy spat the words out, a shudder running though her. There was no amount of spells that would ever erase the memory of that particular night from Buffy's mind.

The night Angelus had claimed Drusilla.

The night she had been bitten.

"You lie! She-"

"I have absolutely no reason to lie to you!" Buffy shouted meeting his narrowed glare. "I have been held captive by that insane **bitch** for nearly two years!"

Buffy's head reeled from the blow Spike delivered to her face. She kept her eyes downcast and low, spitting the blood from her mouth at his feet as it trickled from her open lip.

"How dare you!"

Tears welled in her eyes before she blinked and let them fall freely. She slowly lift up her head and met his enraged gaze.

"You know nothing."

Her whispered words pulled at the pit of her stomach making her numb. Memories she had tried to stay banished from her mind forced themselves forward and her tears fell freely onto her cheek, her lip dripping with blood. She stared at him for seconds or minutes she didn't know, she couldn't breathe, didn't blink and then finally she was turning and stumbling up the three steps back into the warm carriage.

She didn't look at either Tara or Willow as she wiped the blood from her chin and brushed the tears from her cheeks. The only response Spike gave was a fierce growl and a bark of orders to Oz who had climbed back into his seat outside. With a shout the horses started up, coming to a fierce gallop and pulling the carriage away with a jolt.

"Drusilla was-" Willow whispered and paused, "with William, uh-Spike a long time ago."

She passed Buffy a blanket after seeing the shaking she was doing, skin covered in goosebumps. Giving no response of thanks or voice on her words, Buffy sat staring blankly down at her bound hands as the ropes dug into her flesh. Her fingers and hands still smeared with the blood from her face.

 _William? As in William the bloody. The master vampire that has been fighting a war against Angelus for over a decade. The master vampire who had plagued the country for over one-hundred years with the insane Drusilla at his side. He was supposed to be dead!'_

Buffy let out a silent sob as her memories caught up with her.

It didn't matter anymore. None of it mattered anymore. She had resigned herself to that fact that she was never going to find Rupert Giles. She was never going to get her revenge on Angelus and Drusilla. Not when Spike only saw her as a bargaining chip to get the insane bitch back.

Tears fell down Buffys cheeks as she whispered.

"Effugiturus unus abyssus tantum ut exsisto captio in aliud."

Under her own blanket Willow reached over and grasped Tara's hand in a firm grip as tears formed in her own eyes. At Tara's quizzical look Willow translated her Latin spoken words in a broken whisper, sympathy and sadness for Buffy written all over her face.

"Escape one hell only to be imprisoned in another."

few ways to translate which actually mean==== to glide away one hell only when to emerge imprisonment upon other.. Flee from one hell only when to emerge imprisonment upon other.. couldn't find exact match

...


	6. Don't Bother

It was approaching dawn when they arrived at what Buffy assumed was Spike's home. A castle that was tucked back for miles away from the main path and in the safety of many large oak trees. The grounds were shadowed by the large tree's and seemed quite ominous and intimidating, surrounding the house in darkness.

 _Not inviting at all_

From what she remembered having read in her fathers books about the wars of the two fighting vampire covens was that William the bloody AKA Spike, was a ruthless killer. He gave no mercy to his foes and was a force to be reckoned with. At first the vampires had been one united clan, it was them versus the humans whose land, possessions and women they wanted. They had ransacked village after village killing and taking what they pleased, who they pleased. The vampires had hunted down and killed each and every one of her ancestors until there was barely anything left and then they turned on each other.

The covens divided and after that the books were filled with pages and pages of the battles fought and the lives lost in the aftermath of each tragic event.

Buffy sighed, Spike had no doubt tried and had maybe even succeeded in killing a member of her family.

Her fathers books had said Spike had once been in the same coven as Angelus, brows furrowing together as she thought. She couldn't remember reading what had actually started the war between the two covens, a feud between Angelus and Spike, but Buffy knew from the way her face still stung after the punch Spike had delivered to her face that Drusilla was somehow involved.

Willow was helped out of the carriage by Oz and Tara, one hand placed on the swell of her belly as she waddled up the path to the doors. Hands reached and grabbed for Buffy as soon as she stepped from the carriage, orders having already been barked at the guards from their master to take her away as he rushed inside before he met the sun's rising harmful rays.

Watching the doors close behind the trio who walked ahead of Buffy she paused, wondering why Willow, Tara and Oz stayed.

 _Were they too captives of Spikes? Forced to work for him? Was he too threatening there lives and loved ones? Was he after Willows baby? Oh God. Surely not? Then again with his nature and tormented past._

Buffy was jolted from her thoughts when out of her peripheral vision she saw more guards carrying the crumbled form of one Riley Finn and cast a glance back at the carriage, curious as to where he had been kept during there travels. She struggled against her bonds in a desperate need to run to Riley and beat him to a bloody pulp and make him talk.

If he was going to die it would be by her hands.

Hands grabbed against each of her forearms, stilling her movements. Buffy struggled for a few moments before sagging in defeat, knowing that she wasn't going to get the chance to question him any time soon. They walked in silence, Buffy letting the men drag her through the huge castle doors and inside to her new prison.

 _Home sweet prison-y home._

When they took an abrupt turn up a flight of winding stairs instead of down she was startled. Surely she was to be kept in the dungeon which was in the lower levels of castles. Buffy stumbled on the uphill steps still weak, hands still bound and unable to balance. Letting out a yelp as one of her captors pushed her back down and another grabbed at her arm, forcing her forward.

"Don't bother trying to escape." Was growled out at her before she was roughly shoved into a dark room a few minutes later and the door slammed shut behind her.

There was no window in the room, nothing but pitch black darkness. With a shudder from the freezing cold air the stone walls kept encased in the room and unable to see a thing Buffy stepped forward and let out a yelp, the corner of a thick piece of furniture hitting her hip at an uncomfortable angle.

Giving a defeated sob she slipped to the floor, her tears flowing freely. She remembered her first few weeks with Angelus in the cold dark dungeon below his estate and then to the windowless room she was then moved into. Deja Vu was all around her, but with a brief shaky breath she let out a sigh. At least she wasn't shackled to a wall this time.

Minutes or hours later she wasn't sure, voices started at the door making her jump and her heart race.

 _Thought too soon. Here they come to tie me up properly._

"You open this door right now or so help me I'll curse you!"

"But the master-"

"If Spike has a problem he can come and find me. Open it. Now!"

There was silence and then Willow growled out a few words in Latin before the door was thrust open and Buffy squinted from the intruding light.

"This is ridiculous!" Willow yelled at the now closed door as she too was encased in darkness. Buffy only had a few moments to see her form, arms full of bandages and more vials before her image had slipped away into shadows.

"Accendo."

A fire burst into flame in the fireplace that Buffy only now realized the small room had, tucked away in the corner of the room.

"You're a witch!" Eyes wide, unbelieving. Buffy had pictured Willow to be more of a medicine woman with the amount of potions and vials she had first seen on the hutch when she had first woken the previous day.

"Sure am." Willow smiled, proud. She placed her items on the wooden hutch that Buffy had found purchase in front of before walking around the room and lighting the lamps and candles that surrounded them.

Following her movements she finally got the chance to survey her new prison. It was a lot more comfortable than the last one she had been in when Angelus had held her captive that was for sure. There was a large four poster bed against one wall, it's red satin sheets flaming an even brighter red against the candlelight that now shone bright throughout the room. A hardwood chest sat at the foot of the bed facing the fire which Buffy slowly stood and walked towards to sit on, warming her toes in the fur rug beneath her feet as she lent against one of the beds posts.

Willow moved back to the hutch and spread out her items looking apologetically at Buffy as she lifted the vial that contained the wet cold liquid that would clean her wounds.

That one always hurt the most.

"Is Tara also-"

"She's learning." Willow helped Buffy unravel the bandages from her torso as they spoke. "You speak Latin quite well. Are you a witch too because I can totally teach you this really awesome-"

"No." Buffy laughed nervously, confused at Willows ease and openness around her. Spike treated her with such cold disdain, nothing else than she would expect a person to treat a prisoner, but Willow and Tara, they were different. They always sent her apologetic looks and small reassuring smiles. Buffy didn't know what to think of the situation. "My father-" she sighed sadly, missing him terribly. What she wouldn't give to hear him speak again, for him to wrap her up in one of his amazing hugs and whisper that everything was going to be ok. "He dabbled a bit b-but I speak it because almost all of his books were in Latin. Especially the ones about-" Buffy drifted off.

"About you?"

"And my mother."

Willow was surprised at the rate Buffy's back was healing. The wound was still red and angry, but already the skin had begun to stitch itself together.

"Amazing." She whispered before motioning for her to grip onto something. This time the cold liquid was poured onto her back she only let out a hiss in response. It burned, but was nowhere near as bad as it had been hours earlier when it was changed on the path. "Is your mother chosen like you?"

"She was."

"I'm so sorry." Willow whispered, seeing the unshed tears in Buffys eyes. "How did she-"

"Angelus. Riley said she's alive... or was. I need to speak to him. Can you? I need to-"

"I'm so sorry Buffy."

There was a few moments of silence as Willow begun pasting the cream on her back and the pain turned into nothing but a dull ache. Whatever that comfortable and open mood had been in the room stopped and Buffy couldn't help but stare into the fire in the corner of the room, trying to force away the memories of Angelus's words, taunting her about how he had tortured and killed her mother.

Buffy knew Willow wasn't going to help her, but there was no harm in trying. Shaking her head to rid herself of painful memories she spoke, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oz? What is he? He's not a witch and he's not a vampire, but he's something else... something with power."

"Oz is a werewolf."

"Werewolf?" Buffy whispered, whipping her head around to meet a smiling Willows eyes. Willow reached down and stroked the swell of her large belly, smiling before reaching for the fresh bandage on the hutch.

A memory of brief flashes of fur passed before her as she remembered the night they had taken her from Riley right before she had passed out in the forest. "You have a werewolf in your belly!"

"She won't turn until she's of age." Willow laughed at Buffy's obvious bewilderment. "I can't even begin to imagine the image you just had of a tiny little four legged pup in my belly." Willow chuckled again before tying off her bandage. "As long as she's healthy I don't really mind what she is. She's a part of me."

Buffy watched on in silence again as Willow moved about the room, cleaning up. She picked up everything in her arms and moved to walk towards the door, turning to look back sadly at Buffy's defeated form.

"Spike's not so bad once you get to know him." Willow offered her a small smile and Buffy could only looked back unsure, unease forming on her face.

 _I don't want to get to know him._

"I'll be back tomorrow to change your bandage again." She rapped at the door. "Try and get some sleep."

"Thank you."

Willow turned in the open doorway and smiled back at Buffy, her gaze broken as the door was once again slammed shut and the lock slipped back into place.

 _Alone again._

...

Slamming her fist against the door Buffy let out a frustrated growl. All of her efforts where fruitless. Glaring menacingly at the lock that just wouldn't budge she threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Pacing back and forth on the fur rug beneath her feet she felt her body begin to warm, part in thanks to the fire Willow had lit hours earlier.

She had spent the first hour after Willows departure searching the room for everything and anything that could be useful in her escape.

 _If I ever manage to pick this God damn lock!_

The chest at the end of the four poster bed contained a few old dresses and the hutch Willow had set her things on had nothing in it but the fork she had used to attack the lock. That would have been too easy. There was no window to climb through and the walls where made of thick stone.

It was impossible.

Running a hand through the tangled mass that was her hair, she let out a puff of air in defeat.

"Great. Just great! Stuck in a room with no windows with nothing but a few old rags. Reduced to talking to myself. Smooth Summers."

Buffy fumbled her steps when the door was thrust open and two men came in. One carried a small plate of food and the other a basin of water and a washcloth. They stayed only long enough to place their respective items on the chest at the end of the bed before turning to leave the room, door banging shut once again.

She rushed for the food, stomach growling and couldn't help but let out a moan as her taste buds went haywire. Her first real meal in weeks. After demolishing her food in only minutes, Buffy soaked the face cloth in the warm water and wiped the dried blood from her cheek and chin. Frowning upon seeing the dried blood on her hips from where the blood on her back had trailed down, she cast a hesitant glance towards the shut door before pulling her tattered pants down.

Lifting one leg at a time onto the hutch Buffy washed them clean, running the washcloth over her hips and over the lower part of her back that wasn't bandaged. She rinsed off her hands and tried her best to scrape the dirt and blood from beneath her fingers before her vision blurred, limbs becoming heavy.

There was no doubt in her mind that Willow had once again put something in her food.

Stumbling to the bed and managing to get under the covers, the last feeling Buffy had was her bite mark burning before she was met with darkness, completely numb once more.


	7. They're All Weak In The End

"Rise and shine!"

A sharp gasp escaped Riley's lips as ice cold water was splashed all over his face. Rivets of water rushed down his naked chest and soaking into the material of his pants. He tried to move and found that his hands were bound in shackles above his head which were suspended from the ceiling. His feet barely touched the ground, making the muscles in his arms and back scream in protest at the unnatural position.

Spike stood standing in front of him, calm and collected, a silent smirk on his face which sent Riley into a fit of panic, his heart racing.

"Now I find myself in a bit of a pickle mate. I've got a young woman in my possession, gorgeous thing, yay high, bit of a mouth on her though. Who I know Angelus wants very badly." The bucket Spike had used to splash Riley dropped to the ground and he kicked it away, the sound riveting off the walls making him cringe. "Otherwise he wouldn' have sent you. I wan' to know why. Why, why, why?" Spike stalked his prey, slowly walking behind Riley and stepping up close, relishing in the way his heart was pounding in his chest. "Why is she so valuable to him? What does Angelus want to do with her?"

"Fuck you!" Riley spat out, knocking his head back to hit Spike in the temple, who only let out a disappointed tisk in response.

"We can do this the easy way," Spike moved towards the door of the cell and opened it. Riley's eyes widened in surprise and horror at what walked through. "Or the hard way." The beast on all fours let out a feral growl and Spike grinned. "Who am I kidding? There's only the hard way. It's no fun if you don' bleed."

The werewolf circled Riley's dangling legs, nipping at the air in threat as Spike spoke calmly.

"She has the blood. She is one of the chosen." It was a statement which Riley knew to be truth, but he refused to give the master vampire the satisfaction of knowing he was correct. He would die before he betrayed his master. "But tha' bloodline was supposedly destroyed years ago, the covens saw to that. But I've tasted her blood, such sweet nectar it is." Spike's eyes closed at the memory of the sweet taste of Buffy's blood as it first hit his lips. "Mmmmm she is delicious. She's going to be strong." Spike grinned, his demon wanted more and his eyes flashed a feral yellow.

Riley's heart skipped a beat as the werewolf's jaws snapped down too close to his leg than he would have liked, eyes jumping back up to Spike when he came to stand right in front of him, his demon eyes yellow and feral.

"What is Angelus's plan?" When Riley did noting but spit at his face in return Spike nodded towards the wolf. Riley let out a deafening scream when the wolf's jaws clamped around his leg, head shaking, teeth ripping at his flesh.

He couldn't stop the words that sprang free, anything to get the wolf to stop it's tearing teeth from ripping his leg off.

"Prophecy! There's a prophecy!"

Spike placed his hand on the wolfs neck and grinned, Riley was a master at delivering pain, but when it came to being on the receiving end he was as weak as they came. This was going to be too easy. The werewolf detached its jaws and Riley's bloodied and broken leg swung free.

"Now we're getting somewhere! Wha' does the prophecy say?"

"I don't know! Please! It's not in English! All I know Is that he wanted to breed the bitch." Riley's eyes widened in horror when Spike motioned for the wolf to resume it's bite, his cries and pleas spilling forth as he spoke.

"What? How?"

"I-I don't know! Please! It didn't work last time!"

"Last time? He's tried before then?"

Spike paced back and forth. He had known Angelus had been taking young women for years, it was his thing, his Raison D'etre. It was how he had turned Drusilla, before stalking and torturing her first. Angelus loved young women, loved the torture, but it wasn't all physical. No, Angelus liked to mentally destroy his victims before they finally met their true death. His dark princess would always be a little bit damaged from the things Angelus had done to her before he had finally turned her.

But why would Angelus keep Buffy alive. Vampires couldn't breed, they were dead, their reproductive organs no longer functioned to that purpose. Surely he wouldn't try to turn one of the chosen blood? That was forbidden. The war between vampires and the chosen ones had raged for a century before his ancestors had demolished the bloodline for good and taken over the lands they owned.

"The bitch's mother. She was strong... it took a long time to break her." Riley let out a laugh and shook against his restraints. "Broke her eventually though," he grinned, proud of himself. "Just like her daughter. They're all weak in the end."

Spike growled low in his stomach, the demon enraged that Riley had inflicted such pain onto Buffy's skin. Again, Spike felt himself reacting before a thought touched his mind and he punched Riley in the face, his body swinging in the restraints. His demon roared and demanded for his death at the thought of him laying a hand on the small woman upstairs. Sick of Riley's prattling nonsense and with a nod of his head towards the werewolf it once again encased Riley's leg in a vicious bite who let out a scream in pain.

"All the other girls... He was searching for **her** all these years?"

"Yes!"

"Vampires can't breed!" Spike growled out, getting frustrated with Riley's answers.

"He's going to come for her you know."

The demon in Spike flashed forward and growled menacingly at Riley before taking a few calming breaths. Was this wanker serious? That was the most obvious thing Angelus would do.

"Good!" Spike yelled suddenly, on edge that his demon was getting restless and calling out for blood. Spike had had enough. He wrapped his fist around Riley's throat before he growled. "I'll ask him about the blasted prophecy myself!" He wrenched Riley's neck to the side and struck, fangs digging in deep as he drank. Riley's scream filled the room, dulling down until there was nothing more but silence.

"Are you sure that was wise?"

Spike didn't bother to meet Oz's eyes, never realizing he had changed as he strolled from the room, shaking his demon off as the warm blood dripped from his chin, sated. Riley's now dead dangling body was left swinging against his restraints behind him.

"Get rid of that will you." Spike stepped up the stairs and yelled out behind him. "And get me Ripper! I have a man to see about a prophecy."

...

She was such a small thing, tiny hands, small wrists, petite nose that had the smallest bend in it. Spike traced the pale scar that ran from her left cheek down over both lips and ended just under her bottom lip. Her chin and lips were bruised from where he had punched her earlier and a frown formed on his face as her teeth started to chatter together from the cold. Spike watched as they calmed when he pulled the thick blanket up over her shoulders once again in a warm cocoon. He had placed another log on the small fire in the corner of the room when he had first entered. Elizabeth-Buffy, he had decided to call her as it suited her attitude, was passed out in the center of the bed. Her long blonde hair a tangled mess that covered her face like a curtain.

 _"You know nothing."_

Her words had haunted him the rest of the ride back to his estate. He would never forget the day that Drusilla had first come to his bed chambers reeking of the great old poof. He had suspected for some time that she had been seeing Angelus behind his back, but would never call her on it. No, not his dark princess who he had spent over one-hundred years with. Devoted to, she was loyal to him just as he was to her. Or so he had thought.

Still, she returned to him most nights reeking of his great grand-sire, her insanity increasing as her nonsensical words turned into incoherent yelling, getting worse and worse as the months went on.

Still, Spike did everything in his power to care for her, bring her whatever she needed. Drusilla was after all his sire and there would always be a special bond between them that no one could break. Not even the great poof himself.

 _"You reek of sunshine my love. You taste like ashes and dust in mommies mouth. Ruined! You're all ruined!"_

They had fought, yelling and screaming as they had been for months until they ended up fucking. Standard for vampires, fighting, blood and sex just went well together. Drusilla was his. His alone and he would be damned if Angelus was going to take her from him.

 _"Daddy's going to fix everything. You will see. Oh, he makes such sweet little dollies my love. Line them up and knock them down one by one. All ripe for the picking they are!"_

Spike had taken Drusilla away in the early hours of the night after another fight. If he could just get her away from the poisonous words Angelus was spreading to her mind, then she would be better again. She would love him. He was going to prove to her that he was worthy of her. Prove that he was the better, stronger master vampire.

Worthy of her acceptance to a Claim bite.

But his efforts had been futile. Drusilla had left him after waking and fled back to her precious 'Daddy'. Spike had gone back of course and couldn't help but try and stake Angelus, the wanker.

Things had taken a turn for the worst after that. To think that an all out war between the two master vampires had started over Drusilla. A feud that was still going today.

Drusilla seemed more excited over the fact that her two boys were fighting over her, insanely rambling on. She would slip between Spikes home and Angelus', toying with them both for weeks on end. In the end Drusilla's visits had become less and less until she had stopped coming to him altogether. He sought Angelus out who seemed uninterested when Spike had all but pleaded with him to have word on her well-being, panic and despair setting in when Angelus simply shrugged and stated that he hadn't seen Dru in months, thinking the worst had come of her.

 _"I've been held captive by that insane bitch for nearly two years!"_

Buffy's words haunted him. Angelus had lied. Drusilla had returned to him. In the end the great poof had won the girl and he was left on the other side of the country with what little pride he had left. His eyebrows narrowed, his hand scrunching in the sheets beneath him as he plotted the many ways he would kill Angelus.

Drusilla was his. His dark princess. His alone.

 _"You dare!"_

 _"You know nothing."_

The haunted look that had crossed Buffy's eyes had sent a chill down his spine. What was it about this young woman that had Spike so rattled?

Buffy rolled in her sleep, her hair falling off of her face and her neck finally free to Spike's gaze. He watched the pulse point in her neck throb as it slowly pumped blood through her body.

Boomp boomp...boomp boomp

Without realizing it his demon had come forward and he was leaning down, his lips barely touching the soft tender skin on her neck, her pulse point thumping away beneath his lips.

Boomp boomp...boomp boomp

His demon wanted more of her intoxicating blood. Wanted to taste her sweetness once again as he buried himself in her heat and got lost in it as he tore at her neck and suckled her life essence. He wanted her as his.

His mate.

 _No!_

Spike let out a frustrated growl and pushed off from the bed.

This was not happening.

Drusilla. He wanted Drusilla. She would be his. She was his dark princess. She would be his mate.

He shook away his demon who growled at his refusal to accept that he wanted the blonde sleeping woman in front of him.

No. He would have Drusilla for his mate even if that meant giving Angelus the thing he wanted most. A slow smile came to his lips watching Buffy toss in her sleep.

Killing Angelus could come after.


	8. She's The One

"I wan' answers, Ripper. Now!" Spike stormed into the library, pushing the wooden double doors open with a bang. His fists clenched tight, the whites of his knuckles showing how tense and restless he was.

"Y-yes well, it's not an easy translation. It can be interpreted many ways you see, and I've told you to stop calling me that! It was a long time ago."

'Ripper' Rupert Giles had first crossed paths nearly five years ago. During the covens reign the war had fallen onto his own lands and home and the backlash from the assault had been the massacre of his wife and only child. His furious and swift response to the demons who had taken his family from him had earned him the nickname 'Ripper' and you would be a fool to ever ask him the particulars of how he acquired such a nickname. Spike had taken him into his home after his successful attempt at killing a number of Angelus' top minions and vowed to offer him sanctuary for his help in return to kill Angelus.

Nowadays he preferred to be called Giles and had been living in Spike's mansion for the better part of five years.

Giles was quite skilled when it came to witchcraft, surpassing Willow by miles and had spent the last year training and honing her skills in the art.

"Well interpret one then!" Spike snapped.

"R-right well..." Giles pulled the glasses from his face, wiping them with the corner of his shirt and squinting as he struggled to read the fine transcript in front of him. "In sulum ingenero a electus unus est nate. Ille solus voluntas ado the unus ut habitum the vires of utriusque electus ac immortalis-"

"I don' speak Latin, Rupert. English if you please." Spike growled tersely, his patience running paper thin at how dense he was sometimes.

Giles let out a frustrated sigh and ripped the glasses from his face, having only just placed them back and sent Spike a glare as if to say 'You read the blasted thing then!'

"It basically says, into every generation a Chosen One is born. She alone will bring forth one that possesses the strength of both chosen and immortal. She is the beginning and the end. She is the Slayer."

"But that's incorrect isn' it, there used to be more than just one. There was a whole bloody bloodline of them!"

"Correct, but this points out very clearly that there is supposed to be a chosen ONE. It's very specific on the one."

"It doesn' make any bloody sense."

"Prophecy's can be very fickle." Giles eased himself into a chair at the desk where his scrolls and parchments were laying scattered across its top. He had been roused from his sleep in the early hours of the morning by Oz who had said that Spike demanded answers on a particular prophecy regarding the chosen bloodline.

Which he thought had been a very strange request indeed.

Giles hadn't looked over the scrolls and parchments since they had first been given to him to keep secret and safe many years ago. The chosen ones were a dead bloodline as far as anyone knew and he thought it quite peculiar that Spike would ask him to interpret them, which he told Oz as much. He was then informed of the young girl Spike had acquired on his return trip after successfully tracking down and capturing Angelus's right hand man, Riley.

He had spent nearly an hour staring at parchments and scrolls before coming across one that made any form of sense. Could it really be true? Was the woman in Spike's possession really one of the chosen. With his brows furrowed, Giles held back a yawn.

"Oz tells me that the young woman is covered in scars, is she not?" Giles asked, curious about a particular parchment he had seen earlier with a drawing of a woman on it.

"Her back's ripped to pieces. Got a bite mark and scratch marks on her hip." Spike paced, his own hands falling to his hips where Buffy's scars sat. "Drusilla-"

"Drusilla?"

"Mated to the great pillock himself." Spike scoffed out, bitterness in his words.

"She's alive then? W-well that's just... Healed scars, yes? That would suggest Angelus and Drusilla have had the young woman captive for a long time then."

"Two years, give or take she reckons."

"How old is she?"

"Can' be any older than eighteen I'd wager." Spike paused and came to stand in front of the desk, staring at parchments that Giles was now rummaging through.

"Interesting..." Giles pulled a parchment from the pile, his eyes scanning it before moving onto another. "No, that's not it."

Spike was getting restless again, his knuckles gripping the corners of the desk watching as Giles pulled out one parchment after the other before tossing each aside.

The Chosen bloodline had been deemed a threat to Spikes kind before he had been turned. He had only ever heard whispers and tales of their power and strength as they fought to kill off his kind and any beast they saw as evil. Witches, vampires, werewolves and any demon or beast they saw as a threat was hunted and killed.

Spike had sure enough jumped at the chance to taste but one drop of the euphoric blood that was said to run through the chosen ones' veins. The blood and strength of the chosen ones only ran in the females. Drusilla had giggled gleefully when the killing started, how she loved to hear people scream as they ran with fear and terror in their eyes. She had spent many evenings telling Spike the stories of the fall of the Chosen.

But he had never found a woman with the chosen blood until now.

Buffy.

She was different from anyone he had ever tasted. Her blood was like a drug and Spike had to clutch onto the desk he was leaning against to stop himself from tearing back up the stairs and into her room where he had just been about to tear into her flesh and taste her again.

 _"She said help. Why would a woman of the chosen bloodline ask a vampire for help?"_

Willows words came to mind when Buffy had first passed out in his arms and he sighed. More unanswered questions which he doubted Giles would find the answers to.

"He was waiting."

"For what?"

Spike stared down wide-eyed at the parchment that Giles had placed down in front of him. There was a drawing of a woman in the center, her arms thrown out wide to the sides. Lines were drawn vertically though her, what he assumed was light or power rushing into her body. Around the picture was writing that circled the whole parchment.

The person who had written it seemed in a rush to do so because their script was scribbled and unrecognizable and in Latin.

"Always in bloody Latin." He growled and cast a glance at the words at the top of the page that were scrawled out in thick black ink.

"The Becoming."

"What does tha' even mean?"

Giles turned the parchment over and Spike felt his eyes widen. There were more words scrawled in a blurred rush on the back, but again like before there in the center of the parchment was a drawing of a woman's face.

Buffy's face.

Right down to the scar that trailed from her left cheek down to the bottom of her lips. Spike whispered his words, unbelieving.

"She's the **one**."


End file.
